U., Niigata | Purchased: Komuro Suiun, “Viewing a Waterfall from a Mountain Pavilion”
Komuro Suiun, “Viewing a Waterfall from a Mountain Pavilion”
Komuro Suiun, “Viewing a Waterfall from a Mountain Pavilion”

I am delighted with the hanging scroll you suggested.

I have always liked pictures of landscapes with water in them — rivers, lakes, the sea. The one you found seems to show a waterfall; the clear water falling looks fresh and cool, and it should suit the alcove in early summer. Thank you for finding me such a good picture.

Thank you also for the detailed account of the artist. It was most helpful.

As soon as I got home I hung it in the alcove. The cool air of an early-summer waterside seems to reach me already. And thanks to the dignity of the scroll, the room feels calmer than it did before. Thank you very much.

I expect I shall ask you for another scroll one day, and I hope you will help me then as you have this time.

From SHUKADO

The customer gave us the following brief, and we proposed a hanging scroll by Komuro Suiun.

1. What was wanted: a hanging scroll
2. Budget: up to about 200,000 yen; preferably around 100,000 yen
3. What kind of scroll:
A picture with colour; not ink monochrome.
Painted in the Edo or the Meiji period.
A landscape, or flowers, birds or fish. Not figure painting.
A picture with a sense of season; any season will do.
Quiet, restrained colouring. Nothing showy.

He added that the painter and the school did not matter at all, and that, given the budget, a famous name was probably out of reach.

In the event we were able to propose a landscape by a literati painter who was very well known in the Meiji period (his name may be checked in the standard reference books) — and one that still has real dignity today.

U., Niigata, 39 — purchased: Komuro Suiun, “Viewing a Waterfall from a Mountain Pavilion”, colour on silk, with the artist’s own box — 180,000 yen

I am delighted with the hanging scroll you suggested.

I have always liked pictures of landscapes with water in them — rivers, lakes, the sea. The one you found seems to show a waterfall; the clear water falling looks fresh and cool, and it should suit the alcove in early summer. Thank you for finding me such a good picture.

Thank you also for the detailed account of the artist. It was most helpful.

As soon as I got home I hung it in the alcove. The cool air of an early-summer waterside seems to reach me already. And thanks to the dignity of the scroll, the room feels calmer than it did before. Thank you very much.

I expect I shall ask you for another scroll one day, and I hope you will help me then as you have this time.

From SHUKADO

The customer gave us the following brief, and we proposed a hanging scroll by Komuro Suiun.

1. What was wanted: a hanging scroll
2. Budget: up to about 200,000 yen; preferably around 100,000 yen
3. What kind of scroll:
A picture with colour; not ink monochrome.
Painted in the Edo or the Meiji period.
A landscape, or flowers, birds or fish. Not figure painting.
A picture with a sense of season; any season will do.
Quiet, restrained colouring. Nothing showy.

He added that the painter and the school did not matter at all, and that, given the budget, a famous name was probably out of reach.

In the event we were able to propose a landscape by a literati painter who was very well known in the Meiji period (his name may be checked in the standard reference books) — and one that still has real dignity today.